How enumerate() Works

The enumerate(iterable, start) function will return a sequence of tuples. If we loop through that sequence normally like this, we get a tuple on each iteration:

for t in enumerate(iterable):
print(t) #t is a tuple

But the syntax we showed above unpacks that tuple on each iteration, so:

for a, b in enumerate(iterable):
print(a) #first value in the tuple (the count)
print(b) #second value in the tuple (the item in the original iterable)

Author: Nat Dunn

Nat Dunn founded Webucator in 2003 to combine his passion for technical training with his business expertise and to help companies benefit from both. His previous experience was in sales, business and technical training, and management. Nat has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in International Relations from Pomona College.

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